Interview with Bev Jessup - speech therapist on the Voxi team

Voxi:?Hi Bev! Because you are part of the Voxi team, we want to give you a short interview, so that our readers can get to know you better. We want to let everyone know that we are working with the most dedicated and passionate professionals!

First things first - who is is?Bev Jessup?

Hi my name is Beverley Jessup and I'm a speech and language therapist working in the UK. For over 30 years, I have worked with children and adults across different settings (schools, nurseries clinics, specialist schools, residential units and hospitals). Over the years, I have trained teachers, therapists, assistants and parents/carers on effective communication skills and various therapy programs.

V: What made you want to contribute to the development of a speech therapy platform? Why?VoxiClinic?

B: In 2010, I decided that I wanted to do something different and entered a business competition to invent my own software that therapists could use to deliver online therapy. At the time, I became one of the finalists in the south of England but, unfortunately, I didn't win the competition. Even so, this has always been a passion that I had in my head and in my heart. When I got involved with VoxiClinic, I wanted to be able to help them develop the technology and the platform on which therapists can:

• assess and meet potential clients
• give them the best therapy online with motivating games and resources
• keep their records, digitally, all in one place

As I have been doing therapy online since 2015, well before COVID reared its ugly head, I knew I had the experience and knowledge of the technology and the therapy to make both work seamlessly.

V: What are your top 3 favorite features of VoxiClinic?

B: What I really like about VoxiClinic is the ability it offers to change the activity according to what you want as a therapist. Additionally, it has pre-programmed games and activities that can be used to help along the way. The designs of the pictures are brilliant and they are beautifully arranged on-screen. The wide range of vocabulary items available is also excellent. They have also incorporated Bing images allowing therapists to pivot from drawings to photographs so as to make the activity more age appropriate for adults and teenagers.

V: What is the biggest challenge you encountered in transcribing classical speech therapy exercises into a digital format?

B: I have worked with other speech therapy platforms and the biggest problem I have encountered, when working in a digital format, is to be able to have more interactive resources with the child or adult so that they feel motivated. I also don’t like the assessment and report features in other platforms. Since being involved in VoxiClinic, I know that they will have assessments for all ages and a report format that will make the process easier for therapists.

V: What are the advantages of teletherapy and who can benefit from it?

B: The advantages of teletherapy are as follows:

• It is available to anyone with a laptop and WiFi.
• It means that the clients don't have to travel very far.
• Clients are usually more comfortable speaking in their own environment.
• It is better suited to older clients as they don't have to drive to a hospital and wait in a very sterile environment for their appointment.
• Being able to see a client’s face makes it easier to build a meaningful connection.
• Carers are usually within earshot of the session and can watch the techniques used from the comfort of their own home.
• Clients of younger generations are so tech savvy that they quickly engage with the activities without realising that they're actually doing work.
• Since all the sessions are recorded, both children and adults can watch a session with their carers and practice the techniques in their own time.

V: In your perspective, how does VoxiClinic impact children's wellbeing?

B: I think the way that VoxiClinic is set up will allow more clients to be seen all over the world. It will have a huge impact on children and adults who have been waiting a long time for therapy within their own health system or in their school. There is also the added advantage that, if you are a therapist with a special skill or a particular language, you could deliver your speech therapy via VoxiClinic and be known for that expertise through the in-built directory.

For anyone thinking of starting their own online therapy clinic and need a reliable platform through which to deliver their therapy with excellent resources, a reliable server, whiteboard, a way of sharing your screen without glitches and the ability to keep all your notes and reports in a safe place, then VoxiClinic is the platform for you.

Why not arrange a trial, registering and trying the activities that are currently online?